“My mom would…why would she do that to me?” Hadn’t they just made peace after all these years?
“I don’t think in her mind she was doing anything to you, Jan. I honestly believe your mother thought she was doing what was best for Seth. And for you. I truly believe she loves you—both of you.”
Jan looked at him. “Then why are you helping me keep him, if you think it’s best for him to go live with her?”
He framed her face with his hands. “I never said I thought it was best for Seth. I said your mom thought so. But like I told you, I had a plan.”
“A plan?”
“Well, yeah,” he answered. “I mean, I was going to take a little more time and talk this out with you first, but I figured if we got married, we’d give Seth something your mom couldn’t—no matter how much money she has.”
She felt stupid, like she was missing a huge piece of the puzzle. “So your plan was for us to get married? You don’t…we’re not in love.”
“We both love Seth. We’re good friends. We can do this, Jan. At least until Seth turns eighteen and goes to college.” He had a determined look on his face. “We can live together as a family in my house.”
“Live together? How will we do that without Seth knowing we’re not…you know, together?” This was all too much for her.
“My bedroom is plenty big. We’ll just keep a cot in there. I’ll sleep on it. You and I won’t have to be…anything more than we’ve ever been. Good friends who both love Seth.” He pulled her chin up and looked into her eyes. “Say you’ll do this, Jan. Say you’ll marry me.”
What choice did she really have? She couldn’t lose Seth, and there was no way she would be responsible for taking the sheer joy her nephew just expressed away from him.
“I’ll marry you.”
“Your mom’s watching,” was all the warning she received before Bo had her in a very fervent kiss. He left his lips against hers as he softly spoke. “We’ll make this work. You won’t be sorry.”
Then why did the thought of a loveless marriage, already with an expiration date, make her want to cry?
He chased away her thoughts with a tender kiss. She guessed her mother must still have been watching.
“Open this one!” Sammi held out the gift she’d brought to Jan’s surprise bridal shower. Besides the two women she worked with at Mercy House, all the Slammers’ ladies were there, as well as Patsy and Mrs. Harper, who managed to ride along with Jan’s mother.
Jan alternately felt like crawling under the table and bursting into tears. As far as she knew, only the Slammers’ women—or at least Emily and Abby—knew the truth about the upcoming wedding. As far as everybody else was concerned, she and Bo were in love. Jan had never felt like such a…fake…before.
She accepted the box from Sammi and carefully opened it. Her face probably matched Seth’s hair when she pulled out the sheer black negligee and peignoir set. She hoped nobody could see the guilt in her eyes. This outfit would never be worn.
“Thank you, Sammi,” she said softly, trying her best to smile.
“I bet Bo will thank you a lot more enthusiastically!” Okay. Joni evidently didn’t know the truth.
Jan’s eyes met Emily’s. She could see the understanding in the other woman’s eyes, and it was nearly her undoing. How had she gotten into this mess? Sammi and Teresa threw her the shower, so her mother must have let them know about the wedding. Jan hadn’t planned on telling anybody at work until after the fact. At least Emily insisted they hold it at her house instead of a public forum, so that helped Jan feel a little less uneasy. Emily had even given her a heads up so she could be as prepared as possible.
She accepted the gift Abby quietly held out to her. Laughter bubbled up inside her when she unwrapped the box and pulled out a book entitled, Wedding Jitters 101, or 101 Ways to Screw up your Wedding. She leafed through it and saw some of the cartoons with captions. It was already making her laugh.
“Thank you, Abby.” Of course, she could add the one-hundred and second way; marry a man because you want to keep your nephew to raise.
Emily handed her an envelope. When Jan opened it, she discovered a very generous gift certificate for Rivets, the clothing store Joni managed. Jan had always wanted to shop there, but could never justify spending that kind of money on herself.
Before she could thank Emily, Joni handed her an identical envelope that turned out to have the same contents. “Be sure to let me know when you’re using those. You can use my discount and make them go further.”
“Thank you both. This is very thoughtful.”
She soon had all the gifts opened except for the one from her mom. Setting aside the small pile of lingerie and other gifts, she pulled the small box off the table. Jan opened it and found two round-trip airline tickets from Indianapolis to Niagara Falls, Canada. The departure date was the day after their wedding, and they were scheduled for a return flight four days later.
“Thank you, Mom, but Bo and I have to work. We’re going to wait and take our honeymoon later.” She’d have to remember to tell Bo that.
“Don’t be silly, Janet. I’ve spoken with your boss, and Mr. Humphrey has already scheduled your days off. Emily’s husband, Logan, was just as accommodating for Bo. Seth is staying with me. It has all been arranged. You and Bo need a little romantic getaway before you begin married life as a family.” Her mother smiled as if she had done the most wonderful thing in the world for Jan, and the sad thing was, she undoubtedly thought she had.
Jan tried to hide the rising panic she suddenly felt.
“Jan, would you come over here and let me take a picture of you with your cake?” Emily obviously noticed Jan’s distress and was offering her a temporary escape.
“Sure.” Jan stood up. “Thank you, Mom,” she remembered to say. “I know Bo will appreciate it, too.” She followed Emily to the other side of the room, where the cake and punch were placed on another table.
“Hang in there,” Emily whispered. “You’re not in this alone. Bo won’t let you down.”
“Who knows the truth?” Jan didn’t want to pretend in front of people she didn’t have to.
“As far as everybody except Abby and I know, you and Bo suddenly realized you were truly in love. He told Logan he wants your marriage to seem as real as possible so your mom won’t find out.”
“Even the Slammers?”
“Especially the Slammers—except Logan and Brody, of course. Bo was adamant about it.”
“I wonder how he’s going to feel about our honeymoon.” Jan moaned.
“He’ll figure out something good about it. Just wait and see. You can trust him.”
They had to stop talking as a few of the other women joined them.
Jan hoped her smile didn’t look as forced as it felt when Emily took her picture with the cake a few minutes later.
“Set us up another round, darlin’!” Mason was well on his way to total inebriation.
Bo looked around the room. Logan had rented the back room of Bomber’s, one of the most popular bars in Ransom, to throw his stag party. When Bo objected, Logan pointed out that if he didn’t, some of the other guys were liable to organize a much rowdier one at a place like Trimble’s, a sports bar with big-chested , barely clad waitresses. And Logan knew the truth about Bo’s marriage.
All the Slammers were there, as well as their coach, Al Madison, and team’s sponsor, Troy Simpson. And as far as everybody other than Logan or Brody were concerned, Bo just realized he was in love with Jan and proposed. Of course, he knew Mason had his doubts, but at the present time Mason probably didn’t remember his own name, let alone any suspicions he might have about Bo and Jan.
“I just knew you’d end up with Seth’s aunt!” Jesse Rogers grinned and smacked him on the back. “That mentoring program sure changed your life, didn’t it? Just like I said it would.”
Bo liked Stringbean. Even though the farm boy had been way too cheerful about the program they were blackmailed into, a
nd Bo gave serious consideration to permanently altering Jesse’s height from six-five to an even six feet, the man was right. It had been a good thing.
“I’m getting a wife and son out of the deal, so I’d say it changed my life about as much as it could,” he genially agreed.
“Joining us old married men in the trenches, huh?” Colton asked, stepping up on the other side of Bo. “I’ll tell you what. My life has only gotten better since I married my lady. I don’t even remember what it was like without Joni.”
“I guess you know Marie is after me to set the date now,” Coop, who had just joined their group, commented. “She can’t believe Big Bo Daniels is getting married before we are.”
“Why are you two gettin’ married so soon?” Jesse asked, his eyebrows meeting his hairline.
“Come on. Have you seen Jan?” Brody was rescuing Bo. “You think Bo’s gonna give her the chance to get a good look at him and change her mind?”
Bo tossed back the last few swallows of beer in his mug before speaking. “I’m not taking any chances, that’s for sure.”
“You over here talkin’ ‘bout the sex you’re not gonna be getting?” Mason stumbled into Bo, slurring his words.
Bo bit back his angry retort. As far as he knew, Mason hadn’t gotten wasted since he made Emily mad. It looked like it was Bo’s night to get honked off at the dog.
“He’ll be getting everything he needs,” Brody informed Mason in a calm voice. “Why don’t we go find you some coffee, Mason?”
“I’d rather go find me some tail,” Mason mumbled.
“Troy’s coming,” somebody murmured. Nobody wanted their sponsor to see their star catcher so drunk he could barely stand up.
“Come with me,” Jesse ordered Mason. Then the soft-spoken, easy going, country boy firmly grasped the shorter, stockier man’s shoulders and steered him away from the men standing with Bo. It still amazed Bo when Jesse turned into that strong man. The first time any of them had seen him do it was when he met his “little brother,” Austin, who had the worst attitude of the boys there last summer. Jesse didn’t put up with a thing, and now every time Bo saw the young man, Austin was very polite.
“Congratulations, Bogard!” Troy Simpson, his curly brown hair over one eye, reached out and grasped Bo’s hand to shake it.
“Thank you.” Bo liked Troy. He was a good-natured man who expected his players to show up to games in their Simpson’s Slammers uniforms and do their best.
“I hope you don’t mind if we speak a little business.” Troy looked uncomfortable.
“I don’t mind.” Bo wasn’t worried. He had no reason to worry about anything Troy wanted to discuss.
“I’ll make an official announcement at the next team meeting, but I thought I’d give everybody a little heads up.” He smiled stiffly. “We’re having a Simpson’s Auto Parts calendar made. I’d like to have three team photos, and one of each of you to fill up the pages.”
Maybe Bo should have been worried. “You want us to be in a calendar?”
Colton scoffed. “I’m not very photogenic.”
Troy chuckled. “I had some shirts made with our logo. You’ll just be standing there holding an auto part of some kind. In the shirt and a pair of your own jeans. I’m not making some kind of beefcake calendar or anything.” He gave Brody a sideways glance. “If I wanted to do that, I’d just ask Brody to pose for all twelve months.”
Bo couldn’t keep back his snicker as Brody turned a bright shade of red.
“Am I asking you guys for too much?” Troy seemed sincerely concerned. “I won’t force you. If you’re all really uncomfortable with the idea, I can come up with other plans.”
The men exchanged glances. Bo didn’t know how the other men felt, but Troy was asking, not blackmailing them. And he supposed if anybody was foolish enough to want a photograph of him standing there holding a couple of tires, he could live with that.
“I think we can do that.” Brody spoke up. “Can’t we, Guys?”
“Yeah.” Bo would agree.
The other men murmured their assent. Troy smiled. “I’ll get in touch with you when it’s closer to time for the photography to be done. You won’t regret it, and your wives are going to love it.”
“Can I steal our groom away for a few minutes?” Logan asked, stepping up beside Troy. “I just need to share some words of wisdom with him.”
With snickers and snide comments following them, Bo walked beside Logan as they crossed the room to an empty corner.
“What’s up?” Bo asked Logan warily.
Logan frowned. “Em just called and said to let you know that Jan is pretty upset.”
Bo started to turn around. “Where is she? I’ll go to her.”
“Hold up, Bo.” Logan put his hand on Bo’s arm. “You need to know what’s going on.”
“Then, tell me,” Bo ordered his friend.
“They’re at Jan’s surprise bridal shower, and your future mother-in-law just gave her two round-trip tickets to Niagara Falls for your honeymoon. I’ll be honest with you. The woman asked me if I’d give you a few days off work as a surprise, and I told her I would. I figured it would be so you and Jan could get her and Seth moved into your house. If I had any idea she was planning this, I would have hedged. I’m really sorry, Bo.”
“She must be freaking out. I have to go to her.” Bo started toward the door.
“I’ll tell the guys you couldn’t stay away from her,” Logan called after him. “The women are at my house!”
Bo barely heard him as he headed out the door. Jan shouldn’t have to handle getting those tickets by herself. He should have been with her.
Everybody had left, and Emily was helping Jan carry her gifts to the car when Bo’s truck screeched to a halt in front of them. He was out of his truck and had her in his arms before she barely realized he was there.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
Jan barely noticed when Emily put the gifts she was carrying in the car and softly closed the door before heading back to the house. Jan started shaking. Somehow, Bo knew about the honeymoon tickets.
“It’s just a vacation,” he murmured. “We’ll just be taking a vacation. I’ve never been to Niagara Falls. Have you?”
She shook her head.
“Well, we’re going.” He held her closer. “Listen to me. This isn’t any different than how we’ll be living in my…our house. I’ll sleep on a cot or the floor. We’ll just be sharing a room. We’re friends, right?”
She nodded, unwilling to move from the comfort and security of his embrace.
“Friends take vacations all the time. This will be fine. We’ll be fine.” His voice lowered. “You’ll be fine. Trust me.”
“What…what kind of mess have we gotten ourselves into, Bo?” she finally asked. “It feels like my whole life is turning into one big lie, and I’m not a liar…I wasn’t a liar.”
He gently pulled her head away from his chest and looked into her eyes. “This is my fault. If you don’t want to do this—if you think—if you’re all right with Seth living with your mother, we can end it now. I don’t want to make you miserable. That was never my intention. I just wanted to help you…to help Seth. I believe he needs us, and we need him. Maybe…maybe you and I need…” He lowered his face, and his lips softly brushed hers. She felt the groan vibrate from inside his chest as he pressed his lips tightly against hers. She willingly opened her mouth to him and returned his kiss. Her fingers buried themselves in the silky hair hugging his neck, and she couldn’t seem to get close enough. They were both breathing heavily when he slowly pulled his face away from hers.
“I don’t know why…I’m sorry, Jan. I don’t want to mix things up more than they already are. Do you want to call this whole thing off?” Bo’s voice was husky.
Jan’s head was reeling. He was offering to call off their wedding right after kissing her senseless.
“I don’t know what to do,” she answered honestly. “I hate lying, but I don’t w
ant to lose Seth.”
“Then we don’t lie. I’m not lying when I kiss you. I like kissing you. I think you like kissing me back. So, we don’t profess undying love. We just let people assume we love each other. We focus on our feelings for Seth, and let our attraction to each other give people the impression we’re…in love.” Bo made it sound simple.
“What about our wedding vows?” she asked. “When we say until death do us part, and we really mean until Seth is eighteen?” The inane idea of asking the minister to change their vows flitted through her mind.
He cleared his throat. “Who knows what might happen during the next five years? Things change…feelings change…grow. We don’t know that we’ll be lying.” He paused. “At least I don’t know if I’ll be lying.”
She looked at his earnest expression and realized this was one thing she could be honest about. “I don’t know if I’ll be lying, either.”
“Then, we’re good?” he asked. “We’re getting married?”
She sighed, her heart still troubled. She still felt there was no good choice. “Yes.”
He pulled her in for a tight hug. “It’ll be fine. You’ll see. I’ve got a plan.”
She’d heard that one before.
“Why do I hafta wear this suit?” Seth asked for at least the fifth time.
“Because you’re walking your aunt down the aisle and then standing beside Logan and me while she and I get married,” Bo explained—for the fifth time. “At least she’s not making us wear penguin suits.”
They had been in the store for the better part of an hour, having measurements taken, trying clothes on, and having straight pins stuck into garments way too close to certain parts of Bo’s anatomy for him to be comfortable. Logan, the lucky duck, had bought enough clothes from this store in the past that they had his measurements on file. Bo and Seth, on the other hand, were acting as live pin cushions.
The suits he and Seth, as well as Logan, his best man, were going to wear, were all gifts from Patsy. She at first told them she was buying tuxes, but thankfully Jan put her foot down. While the guys would have no further use for tuxedos, they could both use a good suit.
Just Practicing (Hearts for Ransom Book 2) Page 11
